While AAUW works to close the gender pay gap year-round, Equal Pay Day remains a powerful moment for national action. This Equal Pay Day, our members and supporters held more than 200 events across the country to educate our communities and send a message to our elected officials. Check out how AAUW members and supporters have taken action to help close the pay gap once and for all.

3. Mobilized college students

AAUW student organization members table at Lock Haven University.

AAUW student organizations and college/university members rallied hard to help close the gender pay gap, an issue that affects women as soon as they enter the workforce. Inspired by the U.S. Treasury’s plans to put a woman on U.S. currency, the AAUW student organizations at the University of California, Los Angeles, and West Virginia University created interactive illustrations of what the $10 bill really looks like for women. The AAUW student organization at Purdue University hosted a Pay What You’re Paidpop-up shop, in which women were charged 75 percent of the price of art prints, based upon the gender pay gap in Indiana. Students from the AAUW student organization at Lock Haven University sweetened the day with a bake sale where treats were priced according to the gender pay gap by race, and the AAUW student organization at Madison University raised awareness with its I am the Face of Equal Pay campaign.

4. Put Equal Pay Day on the books

AAUW members in Hawaii and Virginia encouraged their states’ governors to sign proclamations in honor of Equal Pay Day.

6. Got creative. Like, really creative.

This Equal Pay Day, AAUW members pulled out all the stops — and props — to spread awareness about the gender pay gap. We love how the AAUW Fayetteville (AR) Branch paid homage to equal pay icon Lilly Ledbetter, and AAUW branches everywhere got innovative by hosting (un)happy hours. But the ultimate prize for ingenuity goes to the AAUW Poughkeepsie (NY) Branch. To illustrate just how archaic the gender pay gap is, they dressed like ancient Greek women from Lysistrata, who withheld sex to advocate for an end to the Peloponnesian War. Members passed out celibacy pledges, pins that said “not tonight,” and discussed the gender pay gap while sipping wine.

7. Achieved ultimate equal pay #squadgoals

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), former AAUW Vice President of Public Policy Lisa Maatz, along with Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Arquette, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) at the AAUW Equal Pay Day Patio Party on April 12, 2016.

Perhaps the mother of all #squadgoals came during our Equal Pay Day block party in Washington, D.C., when Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), along with Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Arquette, thanked AAUW for our work. “AAUW has played an amazing role in organizing the world around closing the gender pay gap,” DeLauro said. “I don’t want any more Equal Pay Days — I want Paycheck Fairness Day.” Cheers to that!

1 Comment

We are having an “Unhappy Hour” event at Glendale Community College on April 5th sponsored by AAUW Northwest Valley branch. A panel discussion with AAUW Arizona President, several faculty and students participating. We expect about 100 college girls.

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